Over the past months and days, i have been receiving invitations and demonstrations of Telexfree from all walks of people asking me to join and promising me great profits.
I have been a web entrepreneur for quite sometime and i have been a victim of many schemes, some which promise Gold and deliver wood, and some will give you air after all your hard work.
Today Morning a friend asked to meet me with a sense of urgency and after re-scheduling my appointments and travelling through rain to meet him, he pitches to me his Gold mine “Telex-Free.”
TelexFREE, is an Internet-based service that requires new members to pay more than $1,570 and post three advertisement links to start earning $100 weekly. You can also join with a less amount(299 dollars) which will also give you a weekly earning of $20.
By recruiting new members, one stands to earn bonuses, it claims.
TelexFREE has been banned in Peru and Brazil, where it filed for bankruptcy protection and is under investigation in the US, Rwanda and other countries around the world on suspicions that it could be a Ponzi scheme.
TelexFREE is a multi-level Internet marketing scheme which uses VoIP technology to share advertisements online. All the members and active recruiters, maintains that the business is genuine.
Apparently “You make money by posting links. If you don’t post links, you don’t make money.” Once one fails to post links they forfeit their investment!
It means that you have to have Internet everyday, wherever you are, because if you fail to post you lose your money.
Ted Nuyten, an international home-business marketing expert, such schemes usually collapse after more people join. When the business starts becoming passive and stagnated, the founders pull out, leaving hundreds, if not thousands, of complainants behind.
In a review Mr Nuyten did for TelexFREE, he does not recommend people to join the scheme basing on some facts around the said business. He says the fact that it was banned in Brazil qualifies it as a Ponzi scheme.
The fact that somebody was making money did not make the scheme legal or legitimate.
TelexFree has contract purchases for advertising. You can purchase a contract for $299. Then you place 1 ad per day on free classified sites and the company pays you $20 per week. Or you can purchase the family pack for $1375 which allows you to place 5 ads per day and earn $100 per week. You can purchase 10 family packs placing 50 ads per day earning $1000 per week.
Okay so that’s the quick overview. TelexFree sells a service that is basically the same as Skype unlimited world wide plan for $49.90 per month. That has nothing to do with how you earn money. You don’t receive commissions on that product. Instead you pay $299 and get $20 per week for “placing Ads” or you pay $1375 and get $100 a week for “placing more ads”. What they are saying is that you are buying a contract to be paid as an ad placer for TelexFree. Additionally if you recruit others you will earn more with the binary compensation plan.
To me that is a Ponzi Scheme!
I will leave the rest to you to decide. Give me your opinion in the comments section.
Credit: Citizencorps The EastAfrican
